Charlie's Angels (film)
| language = English | budget = $75,000,000 | gross = $264,105,545 | followed_by = Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle }} Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as three women working for a private investigation agency. The film is based on the television series of the same name from the late 1970s, which was adapted by screenwriters Ryan Rowe, Ed Solomon, and John August. The film, co-produced by Tall Trees Productions and Flower Films, distributed by Columbia Pictures, is a loose sequel of the original series. John Forsythe from the original series returned as Charlie's voice. The film was followed with the 2003 sequel, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. Plot Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore), and Alex (Lucy Liu) are three talented women currently at the employ of the unseen Charlie (voice of John Forsythe), who gives them cases to investigate via a speaker in his offices, and backing them with support for disguises and equipment; Charlie is assisted by Bosley (Bill Murray), who helps the women directly when needed. They are assigned the case of the kidnapping of Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell), a programmer and head of Knox Enterprises, supposedly by a company called Redstar for his voice tracking and identification system. The three women infiltrate a party held by Redstar's owner, Roger Corwin (Tim Curry), and spot a thin man that was seen on the surveillance videos during Knox' kidnapping. They give chase, and eventually corner and fight the thin man, but he runs off; when the women follow, they discover Knox. After reuniting Knox with his partner Vivian Wood (Kelly Lynch), Knox implores them to help understand what Redstar would do with his software. The three manage to infiltrate Redstar's secure computer system and plant a device to allow them to explore the Redstar mainframe at their leisure. They leave the laptop with Bosley and consider the mission successful. The group relaxes for the night, with Dylan taking up an offer to spend the night with Knox. However, Dylan discovers that Knox had planned the events all along with help from the Thin Man (Crispin Glover) and Vivian; by gaining access to Redstar's server, he is able to seek out the location of any voice that can be detected on it. Knox shoots at Dylan, believing to have killed her, though Dylan is able to escape unharmed. When she regroups with Natalie and Alex, she finds they have also been attacked but each escaped, that Corwin has been murdered, and that Charlie's offices have been blown up. They learn from a radio transmitter implanted in Bosley's teeth that he is unharmed, captured by Vivian before the explosion, and are able to use information to target his whereabouts. The women, with help from Dylan's current boyfriend Chad (Tom Green), are able to approach the abandoned lighthouse that Knox is holding Bosley in. They discover that Knox is planning on using the software and the Redstar server to physically locate Charlie when he next attempts to contact Bosley, as he believes Charlie was responsible for his father's death in the Vietnam War. While they are able to defeat Vivian and the Thin Man and rescue Bosley before Knox blows up the lighthouse, they are too late to stop him taking off in a helicopter armed with a missile to home in on Charlie's location. The women manage to board the chopper and reprogram the missile, sending it back to blow up the helicopter and kill Knox while they land safely in the ocean. Seeing the opportunity to finally meet their benefactor, the women enter the house Knox has targeted to find Charlie has already left, though remotely congratulates them on a job well done. The women and Bosley are treated by Charlie to a vacation getaway, where Charlie speaks to the Angels by telephone. Though unseen by most of the group, Dylan suspects that she sees Charlie nearby talking into a cell phone. Cast * Cameron Diaz as Natalie Cook * Drew Barrymore as Dylan Sanders * Lucy Liu as Alex Munday * Bill Murray as Bosley * Sam Rockwell as Eric Knox * Tim Curry as Roger Corwin * Kelly Lynch as Vivian Wood * Crispin Glover as Thin Man * Matt LeBlanc as Jason Gibbons * LL Cool J as Mr. Jones * Tom Green as Chad * Luke Wilson as Pete Komisky * John Forsythe as Charlie Voice * Mike Smith as Knox Thug * Sean Whalen as Pasqual * Alex Trebek as Himself * Karen McDougal as Roger Corwin's girlfriend * Ray Mysterio as Himself Production Drew Barrymore, who was also one of the producers, disliked guns, which is why the Angels are martial arts experts in the film. Diaz, Barrymore, and Liu all went through a strenuous training regimen to prepare for their roles, working with Yuen Woo-ping, a renowned Hong Kong choreographer. Barrymore pursued Bill Murray for months to play Bosley (originally played by David Doyle on the TV series) and he consistently declined. During the Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary Special, he sang TLC's "Waterfalls" to Drew. Eventually he did the film, but did not return for the sequel. This has been partially attributed to the offscreen animosity between Murray and Lucy Liu (an argument between the two shut down filming for one day). In his autobiography, Hollywood Causes Cancer, Tom Green revealed that he thought the script was "the biggest piece of shit he'd ever read" and only signed on because Drew Barrymore had flirted with him. When a reporter joked at the premiere that he knew "who to sleep with to get this movie," he considered replying "she practically had to sleep with me to get me to be in this thing," but instead said nothing. Various candidates were considered for the role of Alex, including Foxy Brown (who was actually cast and then replaced due to legal issues), Lauryn Hill, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaliyah, Jodie Foster, Helena Bonham Carter, Robin Wright Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Julia Roberts and Victoria Beckham. Thandie Newton was also cast, but she subsequently pulled out, and the role went to Lucy Liu. According to Icelandic singer Björk, she was offered a role as a villain but declined. Soundtrack Released October 24, 2000.Walmart.com: Charlie's Angels Soundtrack, Soundtrack: Soundtracks # "Independent Women (Part I)" by Destiny's Child # "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel" by Tavares # "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" by Leo Sayer # "True" by Spandau Ballet # "Dot" by Destiny's Child # "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot # "Angel's Eye" by Aerosmith # "Barracuda" by Heart # "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors # "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass # "Got to Give It Up (Part 1)" by Marvin Gaye # "Ya Mama" by Fatboy Slim # "Groove Is in the Heart" by Deee-Lite # "Charlie's Angels 2000" by Apollo 440 # "Tangerine Speedo" by Caviar ;Other songs used in the film * "Blind" by Korn * "Live Wire" by Mötley Crüe * "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" by Wham! * "Money (That's What I Want)" by The Flying Lizards * "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts * "Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton * "Undercover Angel" by Alan O'Day * "Principles of Lust" by Enigma * "Twiggy Twiggy" by Pizzicato Five * "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto * "Zendeko Hachijo" by Zenshuji Zendeko * "Smack My Bitch Up" by The Prodigy * "Another Town" by Transister * "Belly" by Nomad * "When Angels Yodel" written and arranged by Frank Marocco * "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground * "Miami Vice Theme" by Jan Hammer * "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch * "Leave You Far Behind" by Lunatic Calm * "Skullsplitter" by Henodize * "Song 2" by Blur * "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson * "Angel" by Rod Stewart * "All the Small Things" by Blink-182 * "Thunder Kiss '65" by White Zombie Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 68%.http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/charlies_angels/ The movie grossed more than $125 million at the U.S. box office and grossed over $260 million worldwide. References External links * * * * Category:Charlie's Angels Category:2000 films Category:2000s action films Category:2000s comedy films Category:American action comedy films Category:German films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by McG Category:Directorial debut films Category:Action comedy films Category:Female buddy films Category:Films adapted from a television series Category:Martial arts films Category:Flower Films productions Category:Columbia Pictures films